Guardian News and Media (GNM) announces two key digital appointments to add further weight to its global expansion and digital innovation. Shannon Maher will take up the position of Engineering Director, and Stuart Boundy will become Head of Web Operations - both will start their new roles in February.

Shannon was previously a long standing and senior engineering leader at Google. In his position as Engineering Director he headed up the Display Ads teams in Google's Seattle and Kirkland offices. Before this, he was Engineering Director responsible for worldwide mobile application development, as well as Engineering Site Director in London, Munich, Moscow, and Waterloo (CA). Prior to Google he held many VP/Engineering positions at AOL, Tegic, and several startups.

Through his extensive experience he has recruited and managed engineering teams, and been responsible for developing products in many diverse application areas, creating technologies from large scale web services to embedded systems to scientific analysis. At GNM Shannon will play a crucial role in overseeing the development, interactive and QA teams.

Shannon said: "News publishing is just at the start of what will be a long-term digital evolution. As a highly respected and innovative global brand, Guardian News and Media is in the perfect spot to drive this process, and has the resources, determination and vision to do just that. I look forward to joining the very talented digital development teams at the Guardian as we help define the future of high quality, reliable news and reporting."

GNM also welcomes Stuart Boundy as Head of Web Operations. Stuart will be joining from Net-A-Porter, where he is currently Head of Web Operations and responsible for a team of sysadmins and database administrators that develop, maintain and monitor platforms for the group's high volume global websites. Prior to Net-A-Porter, Stuart was Web Operations manager at BSkyB.

Stuart said: "There's never been a more exciting time to work at The Guardian. I look forward to leading the digital operations team in supporting continued improvements to an already first-class web offering."

Both positions will report into Chief Digital Officer, Tanya Cordrey:

"I am delighted to welcome Shannon and Stuart to the team at what is a very dynamic time at the Guardian. In 2013 we changed to a new global domain, saw double-digit digital revenue growth, and cemented our position as the world's third largest English-language newspaper website. 2014 promises to be an even more exciting year in terms of audience growth, engagement and digital innovation.

These appointments demonstrate our continued investment in top global digital talent and I welcome Shannon and Stuart to help lead us through the next wave of digital innovation."

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For more information please contact: jonathan.jacobs@theguardian.com or mel.tompkins@theguardian.com

Telephone: 020 3353 3696

Notes to editors

About Guardian News & Media

Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes theguardian.com, the third largest English-speaking newspaper website in the world (comScore, Nov 2013). Since launching its US and Australia digital editions in 2011 and 2013 respectively, traffic from outside of the UK now represents over two-thirds of the Guardian's total digital audience.

In the UK, GNM publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week and the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, The Observer.